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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240526">The Flames of Hatred</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbeepsan/pseuds/beepbeepsan'>beepbeepsan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Spark in the Sea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies, Episode: s01e02 The Avatar Returns, F/M, First Meetings, Katara (Avatar)-centric, Pre-Slash</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:02:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240526</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbeepsan/pseuds/beepbeepsan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katara doesn't know what hate is until Zuko arrives.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Spark in the Sea [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Flames of Hatred</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is set during the episode "The Avatar Returns" (S1E2). </p>
<p>Adding a second fic to this series nearly 3 years after the first one. Oops?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She hates him. It startles her when she realizes it, when she has time to take a breath and the feeling blindsides her with its ferocity. She’d never felt anything like it before. </p>
<p>She has disliked people before, of course. Like when Pati kept eel-weaseling her way out of chores for no good reason. Or rude, unkind Jako, who always got on her nerves before he left with the rest of the men. </p>
<p>And she has certainly been angry before. Sokka can attest to that one. </p>
<p>No, Katara is no stranger to strong emotions. And just a few days ago, she would have thought she knew what hatred felt like. When she woke, trembling and crying, from nightmares of the day the snow turned black – that was hate. When she watched her village struggle to survive, the forbidden ship grounded in the distance – that was hate. When she thought of her mother’s murderer, barely able to picture him in her mind without flinching – she would have thought that was hate. </p>
<p>She would have thought so, and she would have been wrong. She didn’t have it in her yet to hate. </p>
<p>(Once Katara leaves her home, that will change. All the hardship and loss she has already experienced will compound with her growing understanding of the evils in the world. As she matures as a young woman and stands up for her beliefs time and again, she will realize a new depth of contempt for the cruel, for the uncaring powerful, for those who refuse to help. Her capacity to hate will grow as she does.) </p>
<p>She knows what she feels when the Fire Nation comes for Aang. When the shaking begins, Katara’s stomach sinks with dread. When the hulking, ugly steamship looms from the fog, she feels ice cold with apprehension and fear. Her fierce protectiveness drives her to usher Gran-Gran inside, to snatch up a fallen child, to scream at Sokka to get out of the ship’s way. But she is not even angry, yet. She reacts as though to some natural disaster, thinking only of the danger to her tribe and not at all of the cause. </p>
<p>Then the pointed bow of the ship opens with a hiss, falling to form a ramp. Revealing <em>him</em>. </p>
<p>He is obviously the one in charge, leading the invasion force down the gangplank. The soldiers’ helmets flare up and out to the sides like demon horns, and their faceplates look eerily like skulls. But the leader – his helmet comes to tiered points, crownlike, and his face is bare. </p>
<p>He advances confidently, barely pausing to brush Sokka aside with two precise kicks. Katara flinches as Sokka hits the snow, but she can’t take her eyes off the approaching threat. </p>
<p>The leader’s scar is visible now that he is close. It tears its way across half his face, looking as angry and cruel as the man’s expression. For once, Katara feels not a shred of empathy in the face of someone else’s pain. Not even pity. </p>
<p>As the snow crunches and squeals under the man’s boots, Katara suddenly knows: he intends to trod just as carelessly upon her people. </p>
<p>That is when the hatred begins. </p>
<p>It kindles in her slowly, just a spark at first. But when the scowling soldier yanks Gran-Gran from Katara’s grasp, something ignites. And when he roughly throws the elderly woman back, it feels like flames have begun licking at her insides. Katara almost misses his next words, distracted by the rapid onset of as-yet unidentified emotion. </p>
<p>Never mind that he is flanked by several Fire Nation soldiers and with only La knows how many more still on board. Never mind that there is an entire nation of hard, greedy people waging war on the distant world. To Katara, in this moment, these faceless monsters are only an extension of <em>him</em>. The Fire Nation has returned to her home, and he is at the head of it all. He is the leader; he is to blame. </p>
<p>And she <em>hates </em>him. </p>
<p>Katara has never wanted to know waterbending more desperately than she does now. She wants to freeze him in his arrogant tracks. She wants to summon a great wave to push them back out to sea. She might even want to drown them; drag their beastly vessel under with relentless arms of water until the ocean is once again smooth and peaceful, as though they had never come. </p>
<p>But she doesn’t recognize these desires yet. She doesn’t recognize this dark, sick thing boiling her blood and making her hands shake. She doesn’t have a word for it, doesn’t have time to think about it. Not yet. </p>
<p>Aang offers himself up to save her village. Katara is not surprised, but she is heartbroken. She watches her only chance at becoming a waterbender—and possibly the only hope of a free world, if he truly is the Avatar—disappear amidst those hateful, skull-faced soldiers. She feels so helpless. She can do nothing. </p>
<p>She watches the ship steam away and thinks of cheerful, energetic Aang trapped in a metal cage. She wonders what that cruel-looking man—no, teenager—is doing to him. </p>
<p>She has to do <em>something</em>. </p>
<p>Sokka is on her side for this one. They manage to pack some supplies on Appa and head after the Fire Nation ship with Gran-Gran’s blessing. Sokka even remembers the phrase to get Appa to fly, so they make great time. The faster they catch up, the less time the enemy has to hurt Aang. </p>
<p>Katara and Sokka arrive in time to see the leader knock Aang off the ship with fire blasts, and her heart just about stops. <em>We’re too late</em>, she thinks. Tears immediately prick at her eyes. They had been so close to rescuing him, to restoring the world’s only hope. And that awful firebender has ruined everything. She feels the hate burning in her again and desperately wants to let it out. </p>
<p>But it turns out Aang doesn’t really need much help. He gathers a massive waterspout around himself, eyes and tattoos glowing, and he throws the scarred teenager off the ship in turn. </p>
<p><em>Good</em>, Katara thinks, and then they land Appa and she only has thoughts for Aang. They have to get out of here. </p>
<p>When the soldiers approach her, she takes hold of the water puddled on the deck. They hesitate. <em>Good</em>, she thinks again with satisfaction. Maybe they <em>should </em>be afraid. Maybe she can fight back. She swirls the water around herself and throws hard—in the wrong direction. <em>Sorry, Sokka. <br/></em></p>
<p>As Sokka works to free himself from the ice, Katara turns her back on the approaching danger and tries again. <em>I can do this. I have to do this. </em>She reaches for the anger, for the <em>hate </em>she felt as she stood in her damaged village watching Aang get led away. The feeling burns her, but she channels it into ice. </p>
<p>She is surprised to see that her waterbending has worked, but she doesn’t give herself more than a couple seconds to stare at the twitching, frozen men. Then she’s back on Appa and they’re in the air, hurtling away from the ship. </p>
<p>The scarred firebender is unfortunately back on the deck (<em>how does he keep getting back up after falling off?</em>). He’s doing something in unison with another man—and suddenly there’s a massive fireball flying straight towards Appa. </p>
<p>But Aang deflects it with an equally strong gust of wind. The fireball slams into a mountain of ice, and Katara watches with no small amount of relief as the ship is buried in a flurry of snow and ice boulders. </p>
<p>She laughs along with Aang and Sokka as they fly free. Neither of the boys seem very concerned for the people on the ship, so she won’t spare them a thought either. She hardens her heart. They’re too far away already to see individual people very well, so Katara can’t tell if anyone was buried under the avalanche. She finds, to her mild shock, that she doesn’t care very much either way. </p>
<p><em>They brought this on themselves</em>, she thinks. <em>They deserved it.</em> The strange new feeling warms her from the inside. </p>
<p>She hopes she never sees those Fire soldiers again, but if she does—if that particularly tenacious firebender survived the ice—then maybe next time, <em>she </em>can be the one to bury them. </p>
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